Ex-owner of store in Temperance liked people

11/10/2001

TEMPERANCE - Harold C. Gorney, owner of Gorney's Grocery and General Store in Temperance, died Sunday at his home in Hudson, Fla., after suffering a stroke. He was 92.

Mr. Gorney, formerly of Temperance, owned and operated the grocery and general store with his wife, Genevieve, for 20 years. He purchased the business from a neighbor after moving to the area in 1944.

The Gorneys were well-known around townas shop owners.

“They made many, many friends,” their daughter, Kaye Shepard, said. “My dad liked to meet and mingle with people.”

Mr. Gorney was born in Saginaw, Mich., and grew up just south of Detroit. His first job was at a plant that made warplanes. After running the store in Temperance, he moved with his wife to Elmira, Mich., where he farmed dairy cows. He later worked at an iron works plant in East Jordan, Mich. He retired in 1981 and moved to Hudson, Fla., shortly afterward.

Mr. Gorney loved to hunt and fish in northern Michigan. He was an avid bowler and belonged to leagues in East Jordan and Florida.

He was a lifetime member of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Temperance.

Mr. Gorney was a kind and loving man who was a great support to friends and family, his daughter said.

Surviving are his wife of 73 years, Genevieve; sons, Richard Kenneth, Ronald, David, and James Gorney; daughters, Barbara Gotha, Kaye Sheperd, Patricia Robarge, and Mary Burgherr; 37 grandchildren, 63 great-grandchildren, and five great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be at 9 a.m. Monday in St. Anthony Catholic Church. The body will be in the Farnham Funeral Home in Temperance after 5 p.m. today and from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. tomorrow. Scripture services will be held at 7 p.m. tomorrow in the funeral home.

The family requests tributes to St. Anthony Catholic Church.